CIOL DipTrans - Taking the Exam

So, you have signed up and prepared for the exam. What comes next?

As I am sure you are feeling right now, the panic is starting to set in. That nasty pit in your stomach. No matter how prepared you are, any exam as large as this, especially one that could define your career, the nerves will set in. Mine did about a month before the exam.

Personally, I had just been promoted AND was then told that my SO was being transferred to the States at some point in the near future. Our lives had been turned upside down AND I had this massive upcoming exam weighing on my shoulders. As many people who take this exam instead of going back to school, we all have busy lives that may interfere. My suggestion is the week before the exam, take time off to really focus. The exam is always on a Tuesday, and especially for those who need to travel to get to the exam, you need time to be able to focus and get everything prepared.

Material to Bring

You are allowed to bring any and as many dictionaries you want, plus your own lists. Anything else is excluded. Please see the link below for the DipTrans Entry information.

The exam is no technology - some exam centers do have computers to type the exam instead of handwriting, but there is no access to the internet or dictionaries.

What this means is you need an overall knowledge of the language good enough to only need the dictionary for few occasions; remember, there is a time limit and digging through them takes quite a substantial amount of time. If you are constantly looking up vocabulary, which I can guarantee there will be words in the articles that are not in there, your language level may not be high enough to pass this exam the first time around. As I have said in previous posts, other translator bloggers have posted the experiences of the exam, just as I am. They passed after the second or third time once they gained enough knowledge and were not digging through the dictionaries.

For this exam, you should only need a thesaurus, a target language dictionary, a source language dictionary and/or a source to target language dictionary. I also had my own notes of colloquial phrases.

Now, depending on the specialisation you are interested in doing, you may also want to bring a specialised dictionary, if you can find one (i.e. a law or science dictionary).

What I Noticed

When I walked into the exam along with around fifty other hopefuls, the first thing I noticed was the amount of books they brought. Naturally I thought, 'Man I am so unprepared compared to these people'. Remember, these are semi-specialised texts, so you need to have knowledge of the area but the law article for example will not be anything like a legal deposition.

Before the Exam

I know you have heard it before, but make sure you get enough sleep the night before the exam. You will be in there for seven hours, plus break time. You may bring a drink into the exam with. I also suggest packing lunch and snacks. Depending on the location, you may not have access to food  within the break time.

Also, always look up where it is and plan your arrival with MINIMUM fifteen minutes before the exam. Plan for traffic, delays, and all of the above. You will be nervous enough as it is, you do not need the stress and panic of not being able to make it on time.

During the Exam

Taking the exam, I usually finished with a half hour to spare - after going through and re-going through every sentence and paragraph to make sure everything is how I wanted it. Others were flipping through their dictionaries right up to the last minute. You do not want to be that person. You need to make sure that you can do the translation and have enough time to go over not just vocabulary but sentence structuring and grammar as well.

Everyone has their own methods for translating, but you need to make sure you can do them successfully within their time frame. 

For the part everyone forgets about until they get there, here are two of the most important questions that need to be asked:

Am I allowed to go to the bathroom during the exam (and where is it)?

Can I bring in food and/or drinks?

Think about it: it is a SEVEN HOUR exam, with short breaks in-between the three translations. I will give you the answer to both questions now: YES. 

I personally cannot go too long with out having at least a snack, and let's face it: our brains are doing heavy work, not to mention the stress of the days leading up to the exam. Food is essential. And with food comes thirst. You probably do not want to bring loud crunchy food, but to those who do not embarrass easily, more power to you. I brought a lot of bars and two drinks, and during the longer break ran to a coffee shop and got a hot sandwich and some pasta that I ate on the way home. 

After the Exam

Now, you have done it, and it is all over. You feel a huge wave of relief, and exhaustion is close behind. The waiting period for getting the results is fourteen weeks, by snail mail, so what you should do on the day of the exam once you have finished is make sure you eat, and hopefully you do not have to drive home or at least drive very far. You will be happy, relieved, slightly panicked, and really just want to go home, sit on the couch, and have a nice beer (or five). You are done for now, and the waiting period begins.

Look for my next post on what to do once you get your results!

- Em